I sometimes marvel at the fact that I'm a relatively well-paid project manager, doing what my company deems to be "important work". I facilitate/enable/direct/pick-your-own-word the design, testing and deployment of new technology into a large chain of stores. This is progress. At the demand of the consumer (bullied onward by aggressive marketing strategies), technology is ever more quickly changing. Retailers must stay ahead of these consumer demands, by having the products they want, at the prices they want - and having it all in stock and easy to find.

The "store of the future", they tell us, will have customers walking in with an electronic shopping list in the handheld PDA of their choice. The store's job will be to interface with that - to tell the customer exactly where to find what they want. The checkout will be fast and easy, using the same technology. This is all coming, I'm told, and supposedly quite soon.

And I'd rather be home. Don't get me wrong, I have a great job. Given the fact that I have to have a job. You know - to pay for all the expensive hobbies. The most expensive, of course, being the horses. And horses pooh. A lot. And twice a year, I get out the little tractor (unless my partner beats me to it), and move all that pooh into a nice big pile, on the edge of the property, to compost.

And so, I get paid the "big bucks" to ensure that progress is made, for store and customer. And on the weekend, I have a much more enjoyable time, moving pooh.